Leipzig University

In 1409 the Hussite Wars took place in Prague. Thousands of students and hundreds of professors, including the famous scientists, left the University of Prague to look for another place for teaching and studying. They chose Leipzig – the city close to Prague. So, there was established the first University of Leipzig, one of the oldest educational institutions and largest research centers of Germany.

Wilhelm II and Friedrich I supported and sponsored this idea because the university raised the prestige and popularity of the city.

In 1418, Leipzig University got the first faculty of medicine. In 1438 were opened faculties of law and art. The main treasure of the university – a library, one of the largest and oldest in Germany. The person who started to collect the books was Caspar Borner. He visited abbeys, which were closed during Reformation, and gathered books and manuscripts. Now the library has more than 8700 ancient manuscripts, about 3500 first prints, and 170000 original manuscripts.

Besides, the university has interesting museum collections: museums of Egypt history and Ancient art, music instruments.

The main corpus of the university is a unique place. This is a reconstructed church of Saint Paul. The project has ancient and modern parts. In the main hall, different events take place: from university ceremonies and science conferences to concerts and church services.